Cooling tower



L. T. MART COOLING TOWER April 20, 1937.

Filed Sept. 18, 1955 Zhwentor Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Application September 5 Claims.

This invention relates to forced draft cooling towers of that classparticularly designed for installation on roofs of buildings and inlocations of restricted or limited circulation of cool fresh air, as inthe neighborhood of surrounding office buildings, smoke stacks, steamvents, and the like. One of my objects is to produce a cooling tower soconstructed that the efiiciency of towers installed in such undesirablelocations may be increased by taking the air from a point above thetower, rather than from adjacent the lower end thereof as is nowstandard practice.

Another object of the invention is to produce a construction in whichthe fan and motor are spaced a relatively great distance above the roof,if on a building, thereby effectively reducing the volume of noise orsound transmitted to the building.

A further object of the invention is to increase the efficiency oftowers by taking air from a relatively high location rather than fromadjacent the lower end of the tower, since it is well known that underordinary conditions, the air at an elevated location is cooler than thatlying next the ground or roof.

A still further object of the invention is to produce a tower in whichthe air is delivered to the tower in a vertical direction and then isspread horizontally in all directions so that the fan may be mounted todischarge vertically down- Ward and be protected against a stiff breezeor gusty air, regardless of the direction from which the wind may blow.

With the general objects named in view and with the further object ofproducing a cooling tower of the character described which readily lendsitself to architectural treatment for blending into an edifice, or whichmay be handled as a primary architectural feature (since the fan, pipes,valves, etc., may all be readily concealed), the tower of the inventionconsists in certain novel and useful features of construction andorganization of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in orderthat it may be fully understood, reference isto be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a tower embodying theinvention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the tower as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of a modification showing a circular coolingtower embodying the invention.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the tower of Figure 3, with theupper part cut away.

18, 1935, Serial No. 41,049

In the cooling tower as it is shown in Figures 1 and 2, l and 2 areupright casings, both being illustrated as of wood construction,although, of course, they may be made of any desirable material. In thedrawing, the tower 2 is shown as of double Wall construction to preventwater leakage, while the tower l is of single wall construction forpurposes of economy, since it is the air conduit, casing or pressurechamber as will hereinafter appear. The casing l is arranged centrallyof the casing 2 and is of smaller cross-sectional area and is of greaterheight, the lower end of said casing i being spaced some distance abovethe water collecting basin 3 as by being supported on a plurality ofpiers l resting on the bottom of the collecting basin, the spacesbetween the piers constituting air discharge passages 5. As the air isdischarged downwardly through the casing l, as will hereinafter appear,it has a plenum chamber effect as it forcibly escapes through thepassages 5 in all dierctions upon striking the surface of the water orthe bottom of the collecting basin.

Mounted within the casing l is a fan 6 which draws air downwardlythrough the casing and discharges it into the lower end of the casing 2.The casing 2 may be closed at its upper end by a drift eliminator l, andbelow said eliminator any suitable type of water distributing apparatusmay be installed, such as water discharge troughs and drip boards,upwardly or downwardly discharging spray nozzles, or other apparatus forfinely dividing the water for intimate counter fiow relation with theair being circulated up through the casing 2. For convenience, in thedrawing, a series of downwardly discharging water spray nozzles 8 areshown. In the type of construction here shown it will be apparent thatother things remaining constant, the velocity with which the air exitsthrough the opening 5 will depend to some extent upon the pressure dueto the rise and fall of the water level changing the width of theopenings 5 through which the air is discharged.

In the tower as shown in Figures 3 and l, the air casing 9 and thecooling or water casing H] are illustrated as of cylindrical shape.Also, the collecting basin is shown as of annular shape, and its innerwall supports four piers l2 which carry the air casing 9, whose lowerend is closed by a baflle or deflector [3 for radially distributing theair through the spaces [4 between the piers It. This bafiie constructionis, of course, adaptable for use with the type of construction shown inFigures 1 and 2, and its use avoids change in the velocity of the air asdelivered due to a variation in the depth of water standing in thecollecting basin. In Figures 3 and 4 the fan and spray nozzles areomitted.

It is also to be noted that the cooling or water casings may bearranged, if necessary, at one, two or three sides of the air casing,according to the conditions to be met at the point of installation, butobviously none of these arrangements are as desirable as the concentricarrangement herein described. Also the casings may be of masonry, wood,metal or any othe structural material.

From the above description, it will be apparent that while I havedescribed and illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention,it'is to be understood that I reserve the right to all changes withinthe spirit of the invention and without the ambit of the prior art. i

I claim:--

1. A cooling tower'comprisi'ng a pair of upright casings of unequalheight, said casings being open at their upper ends and having aconnecting passage at their lower ends, water distributing apparatusadjacent the upper end of the shorter casing to deliver water incomminuted form for gravitating downwardly through said casing, andmeans for drawing in air at the top of the taller casing and dischargingit downwardly through the casing and connecting passages into theshorter casing, such air flowing upwardly in counter-flow contact withthe water in said shorter casing and being discharged through the openupper end of the shorter casing in parallelism to the taller casing.

2. A cooling tower comprising a pair of coaxially arranged casingscommunicating at their lower ends, the outer casing being of less heightthan the inner casing, water distribut- 40 ing apparatus arranged in theouter casing to evenly distribute water in finely divided form over itscross-sectional area for gravitating downwardly, and means in the innercasing for drawing air down through the same and discharging it into thelower end of the outer casing for counter-flow contact with thedownwardly moving water; said outer casing being open at its upper endfor discharging the air in parallelism to the inner casing.

3. A cooling tower comprising a pair of upright casings of unequalheight, said casings communicating with the atmosphere at their upperends and having a connecting passage at their lower ends, waterdistributing apparatus adjacent the upper end of the lower casing, meansfor discharging air downwardly through the taller casing, and arelatively horizontal baiiiing surface at the lower end of the tallercasing for radially distributing the air through the connecting passageinto the shorter casing for counter-flow contact with the falling water,the upper end of the shorter casing being open 'for discharging the airin parallelism to the taller casing.

4. In apparatus of the character described, a

collecting basin, a cooling tower built above the collecting basin andhaving relatively air and liquid tight walls and adapted for airdischarge through its upper end, a relatively air and liquid tightsupply duct within the cooling tower having its lower end terminatingabove the maximum water level in the collecting basin and its upper endprojecting vertically above the cooling tower, water distributingapparatus adjacent the upper end of the cooling tower, and meansimpelling air down through the duct for distribution at the lower end ofthe tower for upwardly flowing in counter-flow contact with the waterand discharge from the upper end of the tower in parallelism to thesupply duct.

5. In apparatus of the character described, a collecting basin havingouter and inner walls to form a central dead area, a cooling towerhaving outer and inner walls corresponding to the outer and inner wallsof the collecting basin, the inner walls of said cooling towerterminating some distance above the inner walls of the collecting basinand at their upper ends projecting above the outer'walls which are openat their upper ends, water distributing apparatus within the outer wallsadjacent their upper ends, and means enclosed by the inner walls forcausing air to pass downwardly between the same and be distributed inthe space between the outer and inner walls for counter-fiow relationwith the water passing downwardly therein and for discharging the airthrough the open upper end of the outer walls in parallelism to thetaller walls.

LEON T. MART.

